


To Jaemin, from Jeno.

by unlimitedcity



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Fluff and Humor, M/M, This is really cute, nomin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 10:29:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15947507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unlimitedcity/pseuds/unlimitedcity
Summary: To the only Boy in Jeno's life.





	To Jaemin, from Jeno.

“I just read this book last night,” Jaemin says as he hops on the vacant seat next to his best friend, Lee Jeno. It was lunch time and as usual, the two of them are seated together at their usual place in the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was jam packed but the two always had this table to themselves. It was at the furthest back near the vending machine no one bothered to use since it always jammed half way whenever it’s in use.

Placing his lunch down on the table, Jaemin snatched a piece of kimbap from the latter, “Hey!” Jeno complained.

“As I was saying, I finished this book last night-,”

“Wait,” Jeno disrupted him mid-sentence, “You read a book and actually finished it?”

Jaemin nodded with a proud smile, “Yes, I did. It was really good!”

Jeno wiped his mouth with a napkin before facing Jaemin, “Tell me about it,”

The latter’s smile widened and scooted closer to his best friend like he’s been waiting for him to ask about what he’s so excited about, “It’s Jenny Han’s _To all the boys I’ve loved before,”_

“Isn’t that in English?”

Jaemin rolled his eyes and made a face, “I found a Korean translation of it online. Can you not rain on my parade and let me finish?”

A laugh escaped Jeno’s lips which made Jaemin groan in frustration, “Ok, ok, you can talk,”

“ _Thank you,”_ Jaemin says, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Just for the fun of annoying him more, Jeno sweetly replies, “ _With pleasure,”_

“Why am I friends with you again?”

It wasn’t a question that requires an answer. It was just Jaemin provoking Jeno to get himself together before he starts throwing hands.

“The book?” Jeno reminds the topic of their conversation.

“Okay, so the book was about all the guys this girl liked and there were letters and all. It was really cute and the fact that she was half Korean really made me enjoy the book. It had some scenes with Korean culture in it,”

“I heard there’s a movie?”

“Yeah, want to watch it later?” Jaemin takes a mouthful of his lunch waiting for Jeno’s reply.

“Nah, I have soccer practice later. Maybe next time,”

Jaemin pouts sadly and Jeno shook his head with an amused smile on his face, “You’re such a whiny baby, Na Jaemin,”

“You keep neglecting our _we_ time. Is it time to search for a new best friend?” Jaemin pretends to clutch onto his chest feigning hurt, “This is the end of our friendship,”

“Stop being such a drama queen,”’

Jaemin erupts into a fit of giggles, “I was just kidding! It’s okay. Is Jaehyun sunbaenim going to train you guys later?” he asks, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Jeno scoffed and attempted to pick from Jaemin’s lunch but was swatted away by the owner, “You still have that silly crush on him?”

“No, I’m completely over him. But he’s still cute you know,”

“Jaemin, you should probably write a book too. _To all the boys Na Jaemin had a crush on,_ ”

Jaemin tilted his head to the side, considering the suggestion, “That sounds like a good idea. But I’ll probably outdo Lara Jean, I’ve had more than 5 guys on my list,”

_Jung Jaehyun. Kim Jungwoo. Lee Taeyong. Kang Daniel. Lee Taemin. Choi Minho. Nakamoto Yuta… the list goes on._

“And all of them were older than you. How come you’ve never liked anyone that’s our age?”

Jaemin shrugged, “Mature guys will know how to take care of me. Plus they probably have more experience in relationships and has their responsibilities laid out. Guys our age still thinks collecting pokemons is still a priority. I wouldn’t want to date someone who chooses that over me,”

“That’s some loose judgment,”

“I said, what I said,” Jaemin finishes.

“Well, I think you should change that judgment of your’s,”

“Jeno, how many girls have you dated? And how many of them has dumped you because you still chose to skip dates with them just so we could play video games?”

Jeno turned beet red. It was true. There were times when Jeno was still in a relationship, he’d choose to ditch his date whenever Jaemin asks if he could come over his place to play either Tekken or mario kart. It’s like a default - he’d always choose Jaemin over anything and it hasn’t been put into question. They’ve gotten used to this and Jeno never takes his break ups seriously.

“Well, don’t you think I did that because I’d rather spend time with you?”

Jaemin shook his head, “No! You see, when you’re in a relationship, it’s good that you keep your friends in tact _but_ never let your partner feel like they’re second!”

“But Jaemin,” Jeno says, “You’re always first on my list,”

“What do you mean?” Jaemin asks, his eyes blinking per second in confusion.

“If I were going to write a book, it wouldn’t be _To all the boys I loved before,”_

“Of course it won’t be like that, you’re _straight,”_

Jeno runs his hand through his hair in frustration but his lips were pressed into a small smile, “It would be _To the only boy I loved before,”_

Jaemin chokes on his juice he just had the opportunity to drink on, “What?!”

“I said, what I said,”

“You’re gay? Wait no… you liked a guy before?”

“Why is this a surprise to you?” Jeno asks, his brows knot in question.

Why shouldn’t Jaemin be confused? All his life he’s known Jeno as the straight one in their friendship. He dated girls… he _dated_ girls! He’s never mentioned anything about liking a guy. Why is he knowing this just now?

“Because?!” he was waving his hand in the air now… exasperatedly, “You dated girls! _Girls!”_

Jeno was laughing now. He stood up from his seat and grabbed his best friend’s hands attempting to calm him down, “Stop making a scene!”

Collecting himself, Jaemin takes a deep breathe, “Explain yourself,”

Returning back to his seat, Jeno says, “Well, you know I only went out with them since I can’t actually reject them. I’m bad at hurting people,”

“We need to work on that,” Jaemin says taking note of that fact.

“That’s why I just go along with it until they break it off…”

Jaemin nods slowly as if he’s trying his best to process this newfound knowledge regarding his best friend. He feels so betrayed… just when he thought he’s the person who knows him best… it turns out there’s so much more to Jeno.

“You need to give me a second to take this all in,”

“Maybe a minute, you just ran out of seconds,”

Jaemin shoots a glare, “I’m serious! And who is this _boy_ anyway? And why is it only one? Are you _that_ whipped? Do you still like him?”

“I don’t think today’s the day for you to know. You’ve already had so much to digest. Finish your lunch,”

Before Jaemin could protest, Jeno raises his hand, “No,”

And so they continued to eat their lunch with Jaemin’s head in the clouds.

\---

“Did you know about this?” Jaemin interrogated Haechan. A mutual friend of him and Jeno. It was English, the only subject he and Jeno weren’t classmates at since his best friend had a French elective. So much for being such a genius.

“Yeah, Jeno told me a year ago,”

“A _year_ ago?!”

It’s been a year and he never heard about it? And Haechan knew before him? He’s beyond offended.

“But he’s liked the guy for a long time. He just told me a year ago since he was asking me if he should confess already or something. I said he should but something’s holding him back. He’s kind of afraid that the guy won’t like him back… reject him,” Haechan explains.

“That’s unlikely. Jeno’s the best,” Jaemin defends.

 _Jeno’s perfect. He’s nice, handsome, athletic, a good dancer, has good taste in music, smells like vanilla, the owner of the world’s brightest eye smile, adorable laugh…_ Jaemin enumerated in his mind completely unaware of the fact that he’s basically ogling over his best friend.

“Would _you_ date him?”

Jaemin’s eyes went wide like saucers, “W-what kind of question is that?”

“Theoretical,” Haechan says, “Come on, just answer the question,”

“Well… I’ve known him all my life and he’s really a good guy-“

“Just answer the damn question, Nana,” Haechan butts in before Jaemin could stumble over non sense.

“… Yeah, I’d date him,”

Haechan pretended to throw up, “Ugh, just date him already you two make me sick,”

“But I’m not the guy Jeno likes,” Jaemin says puzzled by Haechan’s reaction.

“And I’m Beyoncé! Seriously, how come you guys are getting mans and I’m here stuck with Mark who treats me like an enigma!” Haechan continues to complain but Jaemin’s mind was elsewhere. _Who is Jeno’s mystery guy?_

_\---_

Jaemin doesn’t usually stay over to watch Jeno’s soccer practice if none of the trainers were his previous crushes. But today was an exception. He is _out_ of it. He even failed to turn in his Physics quiz because he was too busy staring at the back of Jeno’s head during class – not that it would make a difference if he turned it in.

Who could Jeno like? And for that long? He must be so amazing to have Jeno so wrapped around his finger.

“Hey, Nana!” Jeno was running towards Jaemin now. His hair was wet with perspiration and Jaemin felt a familiar twist in his abdomen. _Stop!_ Jaemin thinks to himself mentally trying to contain the sensation.

“H-hey,” he stammered back.

“Why are you here? Jaehyun hyung isn’t here today. He said Uni has been really tough lately. You should go home before it gets dark. I won’t be finished by then. Coach wants us to stay until later for dinner. Some of our sponsor sent it some-,”

“Jeno,”

“…Yeah?”

“Is it Mark?”

“What?”

“Or Renjun from your French elective class?”

Jeno laughed, “What are you saying, Jaemin?”

“The guy you like! Who is it? I can’t stop thinking about it! It’s bothering me! I’m going nuts here!” Jaemin practically yells, “How come you’ve never told me about this! I could’ve helped you out with it! But you chose to consult Haechan who can’t even get Mark’s number!”

“Are you jealous?”

“Yeah! I have a right to be!”

“Because?”

“I’m your best friend!”

Jeno’s expression suddenly turned grim but it only lasted for a few seconds. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal. You should go home now, Nana,”

“It _is_ a big deal! Why won’t you tell me?” his voice has gotten higher now.

“Because,”

“Because what?”

Jeno takes a hesitant breathe and Jaemin took notice of it.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be forcing you like this. I should just go home. You’re right I shouldn’t stay late since I always lose my way when it gets dark on the road,” Jaemin has turned on his heel now and was about to march away when Jeno grabs hold of his hand.

“Wait, Nana,” he turns Jaemin to face him. He searched for his eyes and found them at the brink of tears.

“Are you crying?” he breaks into a laugh.

“Who wouldn’t cry?! I’m so stressed over this!”

“Shhh,” Jeno coos, “Don’t cry,” he brings his hands to Jaemin’s face to wipe his incoming tears.

Jeno sniffed, “You’re being too sweet this is weirder now that I know you’re not straight,”

“It’s you,” Jeno says out of nowhere.

“What?” Jaemin dumbly asks.

“It’s you, Nana. You’re the guy I like. The only guy I’ve ever liked,”

The world stopped spinning.

Jaemin remembered Haechan telling him about how his vision starts to focus only on Mark whenever he’s around and how all his senses are sensitive only when it came to him. He never believed him and said it was _sensationalized._

Haechan defends himself by saying, “ _You just never really found the guy for you, Jaemin. That’s why,”_

And yet here he is now… his vision was like how he’d see Jeno through a camera. His depth of field was shallow: the background was blurry and Jeno was his focus in full 1080p.

“Jaemin?” Jeno calls for him nervously.

“Pinch me,” Jaemin orders.

“Are you ser-“

“Pinch me!”

And he does.

“Ow!” Jaemin yelped breaking free from Jeno’s hold. “Why did you pinch me?!”

“You told me to!”

“Details!” Jaemin shouted back.

The hair at the back of Jaemin’s neck were standing upright and he can now feel the twisting in his abdomen more prominently than before. Jeno was right in front of him looking defeated.

“Is it true? What you just said?” Jaemin asks.

Jeno nods, his gaze avoiding Jaemin’s. “Yeah,”

“Since when?”

“Since your 15th birthday,”

_Three years ago!_

“Why did you never tell me about this?”

“Because you were so infatuated with Daniel sunbaenim that time!”

“After that?”

“Lee Taemin sunbaenim,”

Jaemin groaned, “You should’ve told me! Now I’m madder that I just knew now!”

“Why are you so worked up? It’s not like you like me back, Nana,”

“That’s because I like you, Jeno!” Jaemin says back almost immediately.

It was Jeno’s turn to stutter in confusion, “W-what?”

“I’ve liked you for the longest time now, Jeno. True, I liked upperclassmen from my previously stated reason but that was it. Just an infatuation. It never grew into anything serious. I never confessed to them not because I wasn’t confident but because that wasn’t _love,_ ”

Jeno was speechless.

“I like you, Jeno. Those crushes? It was just a distraction… a lousy attempt to avoid falling any deeper for you… my best friend. I know how much you value our friendship and that’s what I feel too. I _thought_ you were straight so when I started to feel this way I tried my best to bury it deep within me,”

“Jaemin…”

“You dated girls! I had to see you get fed by a girl in front of my eyes! That was torture!”

Jeno reached out to grab Jaemin’s hand and he gave it a light squeeze, a smile unknowingly has settled on his lips, “You’re crying again. You’re such a crybaby,”

Sniffing, Jaemin weakly punches Jeno’s chest with his free hand, “ _I like you, idiot,”_ he sobs.

“I like you too,” Jeno says, “ _only you_ ,”

“Stop, you’re being too cheesy,” Jaemin made a face but deep inside he was actually feeling too giddy. The butterflies in his stomach were flying around and his heart was doubling in beats. He _could_ die from this.

“Are we okay now?”

“Definitely,”

“A new chapter for the two of us?”

“You’re asking so much questions, Jeno,”

Jeno laughs, “I’m just making sure this is all real, Jaemin. I’ve been waiting all my life for this,”

“Yes, Jeno. This is true. Us. A new chapter. Heck this is a new book! A new beginning. This time it’s not to all the boys. This time and until the end it will be… _To the only boy I’ll love with all my heart,”_

“Love?”

“Shut up,”

 

**Author's Note:**

> i've been posting one shots daily aaaa! if you want to be mutuals on twitter please tell me!


End file.
